INDIANAPOLIS — Of the two Super Bowl teams, the Giants have been more talkative than the Patriots.
Tuesday, safety Antrel Rolle said the Giants were going to win the game, but backed off when asked if that was a guarantee. Wednesday, defensive end Chris Canty told New Yorkers “to get ready for a parade.”
Thursday, Giants coach Tom Coughlin said those comments did not reach the level of bulletin board material for the Patriots.
“If there’s anything I’d be upset about it, then I’m sure (Giants PR man) Mr. (Pat) Hanlon would have informed me,” Coughlin said. “I’ve seen some of the statements in the past that I’ve kind of tried and corral a player and make them understand the significance that may have played or not played.
“But I think the players have a pretty good idea of what we expect of them, and we try and frown on anything that becomes bulletin board material. For the most part they have done an outstanding job.”
For their part, the Patriots don’t seem too inspired by the Giants words. Defensive tackle Vince Wilfork was not worried about any of their comments.
“No I don’t care about what’s been said,” Wilfork said. “They feel confident and we do, too. The game is never won in the papers or through media. You always have to rely on the game on that Sunday, or whenever the game is. For us, that’s Sunday. We’ll do all our talking on Sunday. We don’t have to go out and say what we want to do and how we feel. I know we are very confident, they are very confident.”
Luckily for Coughlin and Patriots counterpart Bill Belichick, the players’ time with the media is over. Thursday morning’s session was the final time any of them are scheduled to talk before the game ends Sunday. The head coaches will meet with the press one more time Friday.
“I’m not sure how you deny much talking in this atmosphere,” Coughlin said. “We are all supposed to cooperate, and quite frankly I think players today do respond to most questions, sometimes those questions aren’t worthy of an answer.”